Back On Track: Briscoe and Cindric Grab Solid Finishes at Kansas

Austin Cindric Breakdown:

A visit to Kansas Speedway was just what Austin Cindric and the No. 19 PIRTEK Ford F-150 team needed to get their 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season on track. Cindric scored a 10th-place finish on Friday night at the 1.5-mile oval, his best finish of the season and first top 10 in 10 career starts. He climbed up to 15th place in the series championship standings, a gain of two positions, and sits just four points behind 13th.  
The 18-year-old native of Mooresville, N.C., said before the 167-lap, 250-mile race that he wanted to post a solid finish, and the young driver did just that. Cindric started 16th and survived five cautions and a loose-handling Ford F-150 during the first 40-lap stage to finish 11th. He started stage 2 loose, but ended the run too tight, leaving him with a 12th-place finish at its conclusion.   
 
Stage 3 began on lap 87 and once again, Cindric’s truck was a bit too tight. He was running 12th when the 10th caution slowed the pace on lap 128. Cindric pitted one lap later and crew chief Doug Randolph put on a set of scuffed tires (which had just 11 green-flag laps) and made another round of adjustments.  He restarted 14th on lap 131, but pitted for a quick adjustment five laps later. He restarted in the 16th position on lap 138 and began marching toward the top 10. Cindric steadily worked his way through traffic and climbed up to 10th in the closing laps of the race.
 
Chase Briscoe Breakdown:
 
Chase Briscoe earned his second-career top-five finish in his first NCWTS visit to Kansas Speedway. Briscoe climbed three positions in the series championship standings and now sits fourth, 54 points behind the leader.  He also grabbed Sunoco Rookie of the Race honors for the first time this season.  
 
The No. 29 Cooper Standard team entered the Kansas event looking to rekindle their strong start in Daytona. Laying down the ninth-fastest laps in both practice sessions, Briscoe qualified 11th, but knew he had a potent Ford F-150 that would come to life under race conditions. After the drop of the green flag, Briscoe endured a wave of five cautions in the opening stage of the race, and was scored in the eighth position when it concluded. Following a four-tire pit stop with air-pressure adjustment, the Cooper Standard Ford F-150 undeniably had speed, and Briscoe had advanced up to the fourth position by the end of stage two.   
 
Reporting that his truck was just a tick tight, another pit stop with very minor adjustments would allow him to reach third place before his final pit stop of the night. In the closing 35 laps, Briscoe narrowly avoided a truck crashing into the fence directly in front of him, withstood his own brush with the wall, and then endured a challenging final restart before ultimately crossing the finish line in the fifth position.  
 
BKR PR